Bucky Thornwell
Bucky Thornwell Bucky was born in the large urban city of Los Angeles, California by his father Joseph and mother Martha on October 22, 1976. Growing up, Bucky had an immediate connection with sports, including baseball, golf, football, basketball, and even more recreational sports for fun. By the age of 13 Bucky’s name had already been heard across the country about his talents in multiple sports, colleges already had his name on their list before high school. When Bucky’s father Joseph was asked if Bucky even enjoys doing so much he answered, “You think I told him to go play, he’s just having fun.” He then went on to attend LAHS(Los Angeles High School) and was a 3 sport athlete playing football, baseball, and golf. As a freshman he was on the varsity team for all three sports and was a contribution to their success. By the end of his high school career he was a three sport, four-year letterman in all sports, and held multiple state records in baseball. In his senior year the MLB(Major League Baseball) draft came around and he was projected to go in the early 1st round. But that’s not all he did, as he was drafted No. 1 overall in the 1994 MLB draft to the Los Angeles Dodgers as an 18 year-old. Before the draft while attending school he met a young woman named Kelly that he explained as the most beautiful thing in the world. Kelly was in his sophomore year English class, and he knew at first sight that she was the one. Bucky was right, after dating Kelly since sophomore year in high school he proposed to her after dating for 7 years. She was his biggest supporter as he made his way through the minor league system of the Dodgers rather quickly for a high school draft pick and being so young. But, the day came and he debuted in Los Angeles on August 31, 1997 at the age of 20. He was playing against the San Francisco Giants in his debut and what was a tight game where Bucky had already collected his first MLB hit, he did something else. In the bottom of the 9th with two outs and a guy on first base, he hit a 2-run walk off homerun to win the game in his MLB debut. But that wasn’t all that Bucky did in his MLB career, as he went on to play for 10 years, winning 4 World Series, 3 National League MVP’s, and a 9 time All-Star. Why he only played 10 years many people ask, and Bucky answered with, “I’ve achieved more in baseball than I ever thought I could, but now I’m going to achieve more greatness in golf.” So, at the age of 30 he had begun his training and tournament play to get his way to the PGA (Professional Golf Association). He began with joining the Nationwide tour, a golf tour for golfers who are on the verge to make the PGA, but have to win a certain amount of tournaments to make the PGA. At the age of 32, after having an illustrious career in baseball, he had just got his first invitation to a PGA tournament. His first tournament as a PGA player was at Pebble Beach in the US Open, and in his first round he was paired with the legend Tiger Woods. Bucky beat Tiger in the opening round by 1 stroke and had the lead in the tournament through day 3. You guessed it, Bucky did his thing and in his first ever professional tournament he had won, beating a field of many living legends in the game. Bucky continued to play well in the PGA winning multiple tournaments throughout his career, including 3 more major championships. To this day Bucky is still playing on the PGA at the age of 40, and is living with his wife Kelly and two kids, Reggie and Natalie in the city of Newport Beach California.